Jan 8- Activist-investor Starboard Value LP has reiterated that Yahoo Inc should consider a merger with AOL Inc and cut costs to improve profits, spurred by media reports that Yahoo is exploring other large-scale acquisitions. Starboard, in September, urged Yahoo to consider merging with AOL on the grounds that a deal could create up to $1 billion in "synergies"...

Jan 8- Yahoo Inc shareholder Starboard Value LP reiterated that the company should explore a combination with AOL Inc and cut costs to improve profits. Yahoo's number one priority must be to monetize its investments in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Yahoo Japan Corp, the activist investor wrote in a letter to Yahoo's board on Thursday. Starboard, which first...

*Services sector expands at slowest rate since Feb- Markit. NEW YORK, Jan 6- U.S. stocks ended lower for a fifth session on Tuesday as data showed slower growth in the U.S. service sector and oil prices fell further. The S&P 500' s losing streak was its longest in about 13 months, but the index ended off the day's lows, having fallen as much as 1.4 percent earlier, at one point...

Jan 6- Verizon Communications Inc Chief Executive Lowell McAdam said the company is not planning any major acquisitions, following a report that Verizon had approached AOL Inc for a potential deal. "I think AOL along with lots of other media companies are potential for us to do partnering, on a commercial basis or whatever," McAdam said at a conference on Tuesday.